Chris Dring

Certain Affinity — the renowned Texas-based support studio most recently reported to be working on a Halo battle royale project for Microsoft — has announced a round of layoffs, which will see 25 employees lose their jobs.

Grand Theft Auto publisher Take-Two has announced it will lay off five percent of its 11,000-strong workforce — equating to around 550 people — and cancel multiple in-development projects. The company said the move was the next stage in its ongoing restructuring plan, which began in February.

The International Game Developers Association (IGDA) has called for the games industry to do more to protect developer jobs and prevent further layoffs.

Just Cause developer Avalanche has confirmed plans to enter a collective bargaining agreement with Swedish unions.

Xbox head Phil Spencer wants to see more digital storefronts such as Epic and Itch.io on Microsoft's consoles.

It's a pretty strange time for Xbox owners, with some concerned about the future of the hardware now that the company has committed to launching its flagship exclusives on rival systems. Grounded, Sea of Thieves, Hi-Fi Rush, and Pentiment have all launched on both PlayStation and Nintendo Switch systems, with rumors of bigger titles like Starfield and Halo following them refusing to go away.

As Microsoft begins bringing some of its most popular games over to PlayStation 5, a new report claims that, ultimately,most Xbox games will be playable on other platforms. In early 2024, Microsoft shocked its user base by announcing that it was in the process of porting a handful of titles onto competing consoles, prompting a great deal of concern and backlash. It seems those complaints haven't changed how the company views its current strategy as it will reportedly maintain its plan.

It is understood the «majority» of Xbox games will eventually be coming to PlayStation.

"Xbox is in real trouble as a hardware manufacturer," GamesIndustry.biz head Chris Dring said. "That's the thing that came out of [the Game Developer Conference] for me."

Xbox might be facing some push back from third-party developers. According to Chris Dring of GamesIndustry.biz, developers he spoke to during the recent Game Developers Conference indicated that Xbox’s general place in the market right now spells trouble for Microsoft.

Microsoft Xbox fans were in for quite a fright not too long ago. A slew of rumors hit the web suggesting that Xbox was bowing out. There wouldn’t be new consoles, and first-party titles would launch on competitor platforms, and it really painted a doom-and-gloom picture. Now, a new report suggests there are even more disheartening comments made from third-party publishers. 

Some third-party publishers are reportedly expressing doubts about continuing to support Xbox consoles amid “flatlining” sales in Europe.

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The GamesIndustry.biz Microcast takes a quick dive into the biggest stories from the business of video games over the past week - and the latest episode is available to listen to or watch now.

Something Wicked Games has reportedly laid off «most of» its staff, according to a handful of people impacted.

The latest GamesIndustry.biz Microcast is now live, with Chris Dring and James Batchelor offering a quick dive into the biggest stories from across the business of video games.

600 Activision Blizzard quality assurance (QA) workers have voted to unionise.

Deviation Games has closed down.

Capcom has announced it plans to raise salaries by at least five percent on average in the next financial year, as well as an increase to starting salaries for graduate hires in 2025.

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Helldivers 2 continues to sell well. The game had surpassed one million units sold just four days after its February 8 launch. Arrowhead Creative Director Johan Pilestedt has now confirmed it is around three million units just over two weeks after the release.

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Helldivers 2 continues to do well here in the UK, with boxed sales growing 20 percent in its third week on the market thanks to the game's positive reception.

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Nintendo is reportedly “deep in conversation,” with external studios to work on its first-party IP.

Chris Dring and James Batchelor return with our weekly dive into the biggest news stories from the business of video games.

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Hogwarts Legacy has returned to the top of the UK physical game charts, following the release of its Switch version.

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While Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 topped the UK physical charts for the week, Nintendo’s Super Mario Bros. Wonder still performed well. It debuted second in the region and is already the fifth biggest physical launch of the year, right behind the superhero title, per Chris Dring of Games Industry on Twitter.

The weekly UK physical games chart saw Insomniac's Marvel's Spider-Man 2 easily securing the top spot, according to GI.biz head Chris Dring.

Activision Blizzard is now officially part of Microsoft.

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EA Sports FC has earned the second-biggest physical launch of 2023 in the UK.

The latest episode of VGC’s new weekly show, VGC: A Video Game Podcast, is now available on all major audio platforms.

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Today, GamesIndustry.biz has reported GSD (Game Sales Data) showing that Starfield has become the biggest Xbox launch this generation in Europe, beating Forza Horizon 5 in this regard. It is also the fastest-selling game based on a new intellectual property released in 2023 thus far.

Gfk’s latest physical sales charts for the United Kingdom are yet to be fully detailed. However, Chris Dring of Games Industry revealed that Starfield’s Premium Upgrade entered seventh place in the UK’s top ten.

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